Hi. I had exactly the same problem with my Sony Cyber-Shot DSC-W7. The problem started after while lense was fully open, the battery became 100% empty. I did not have access to new batteries and did not have my charger with me so I put the camera on my car seat and went home. After charging the batteries, I turned the camera Off and the lense retracted 100%. Later on I tried to transfer some pictures to my PC. After connecting the camera to my PC with the dial in the P position and lense fully open I turned the dial to play in order to transfer photos. After transferring the pictures, I turned the camera off and disconnected from the computer.

I turn the camera on to take new pictures next day, The lense would go up, and and turn with lense fully open. It would never close. The screen was black with a message "Turn the camera on and off again". I tried 30 times or more and the same thing would happen again.

Here is what I did to fix my camera and it has been working normally since then.

1- I cleaned around the outside of the lense with lent free cloth

2- I used dust OFF to get raid of the remaining small dust particles from around the lense.

3- While turning the camera off, I pushed (down, up and turn) the lense in (NOT TOO Hard) by my hand. If you push the lense too hard, you may damage the mechanicall moving parts of the lense.

4- After a few tries, the lense retracted 90% +. I then pushed the lense a little harder all the way in, the way it normall retracts. The lense cover also closed 100%.

5- I turned the Camera on and off a few times. It was opening and closing exactly the way it used to. My Cybershot has been working okay since then.

I read a lot and here is what cause my lense to malfunction.

While lense was fully open and battery died, some small particles got on the lense and prevented lense from fully opening or closing.

In summery: two things could have caused your camera lense to malfunction.

1- if you had dropped your camera hard, some mechanical parts may have got damaged or dislocated. In this case you have to open the lense and replace the damaged part, clean and put it back on the camera. This is too risky for most ordinary people. You would most likely make it WORST.

2- If you did not drop it, most likly, some how some small dust particles got on the outside of the lense and they prevent the lense or the lense cover from fully opening and closing. If this is your case, please follow exactly what I did and your camera would be back to normal.

1 Suggested Answer

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Related Questions:

When I turn on sony cyber-shot camera I get a
Problem with the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W35 Digital Camera
when I turn on sony cyber-shot camera I get a screen
display that states "access". The lens keeps going in and out and then
it states,"turn the power off and on again" What's wrong??

Hi, Due to malfunctioning of FLASH UNIT assembly this message appears"turn off the power and on again". A very common problem in these models. Just replace the COMPLETE FLASH ASSY and camera will work fine again. The detail of part is given below:

A letter and number error code of E:61:xx , E:62:xx , or E:91:xx is an
indication a malfunction has occurred in the camera. To try resolving
any of these error codes, power reset the camera back to the original factory specifications.

I'll forward a link to a page where you can view the information about power resetting the Camera.

Please click on the link to open the page to view the troubleshooting steps.

Its lens error in your DSC-W35 camera.Lens mechanism is either stuck or not retract completely and system control sense this error. Please replace lens assembly to get it fixed because lens mechanism is not repairable.Thanks.

You dont need the disc to download to computer.Take the card from the camera and put it into the card reader on your computer if one is fitted, if not you need one that goes into a USB slot
When the card is inserted into the reader a box will open on the screen with several options as to view images or download them.

I would also download Picasa 3 which puts your photos in date order and also has photo editing. This is a free download and is part of google.
Dennis Darwin

you have to open the cage of the camara gently & the put the betteries, then if you are catching the cam. from the screen side, you can see on the left side the wheel of the lences, in the same moment you are turning the cam, move that wheel with a little knife or anything you have, it will work.
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Hey,
This is a problem that occurs often in all of the Sony Cybershot cameras. To fix this problem, hit the "Sony" logo on the front of the camera with one of your knuckles. I know it sounds abusive, but it works everytime! and with every Sony camera:)
Best of luck,
Matt